Parametric Study of a Large Active Area PEM Fuel Cell using a MatLab-Simulink Model
S. K. Das and H. Zhang Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kettering University, Flint, MI, USA. 2026-01-20

Abstract

A Matlab-Simulink based mathematical model and simulation method is developed by applying appropriate physics and electro-chemistry that adequately describes a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The mathematical model is then simulated for a single low temperature PEMFC with a large, 350cm2, active area. The single cell’s performance was evaluated using different operating conditions and varying values of various crucial system parameters. The Matlab-Simulink model presented in this investigation is used to study various parameters’ effect such as the cell temperature from 50℃ to 90℃, inlet pressure, relative humidity (RH) from 70% to 90%, and the reactant stoichiometry ratio, on the cell performance. Comparison of polarization and power density curves were conducted between the model simulation and experimental data at 60℃ and at 65℃. Except for the higher current densities range (≥1.6 A/cm2), the simulation results match with the experimental results very well. The parametric study was used to determine the optimum value of various parameters. The fuel cell performance with the optimized parameter values show a good improvement using the developed MatLab-Simulink model.

Key words: PEMFC, modeling, Matlab-Simulink, fuel cell, experimental validation.

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